


Something More

by salvatorestjohn



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Episode: s01e08 Lunatic, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Gen, Good Parent Melissa McCall, Light Angst, Misunderstandings, Pre-Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski, Protective Melissa McCall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27476254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salvatorestjohn/pseuds/salvatorestjohn
Summary: Melissa quickly ducks down and crouches over the bag Stiles dumped on the floor upon entering without a thought. It’s probably just a school project, like he said, but it might give her some idea of what could be bothering Scott if it’s a school-related issue. She unzips the duffel, wincing at the noise it makes and quickly yanking it the rest of the way.Part of her really wishes she hadn’t.It takes a second for her to fully process what she's looking at. Chains. Maybe more than one, or maybe just one very big, very heavy link of it, and—handcuffs?
Relationships: Melissa McCall & Scott McCall, Melissa McCall & Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 14
Kudos: 109
Collections: Teen Wolf





	Something More

Usually, Melissa wouldn’t stoop to this level. She worries about Scott often, it’s just part of being a mother. But he’s been so off lately, and he won’t talk to her. Maybe he feels like he can’t, she’s not sure, but she wants to be able to help him  _ somehow _ . So, if this is the only way to figure out what’s going on, then she’s going to do it, and pretend that this is perfectly okay and normal and she’s not become her own teenage self’s worst nightmare.

Stiles is staring at her like he’s waiting patiently for her to leave for work, except it’s Stiles, and he doesn’t do anything patiently. 

“Uh,” Melissa thinks fast, feigning confusion as she pats down her pockets, “damn it, where did I put them? Of course you have a key on hand while I’m losing mine—I can’t leave without them, I don’t know if Scott’s got his on him.”

The look of panic and mild fear at the possibility of her not leaving is very clear on Stiles’ face. “Kitchen? Did you check the kitchen? You’re always leaving them on the table, lemme just check for you!”

He’s already sprinting down the hall. The keys brush against her thumb when she slips a hand into her pocket. Guilt stirs, but she pushes it down, deep beneath the concern for her son.

Melissa quickly ducks down and crouches over the bag Stiles dumped on the floor upon entering without a thought. It’s probably just a school project, like he said, but it might give her some idea of what could be bothering Scott if it’s a school-related issue. She unzips the duffel, wincing at the noise it makes and quickly yanking it the rest of the way. 

Part of her really wishes she hadn’t.

It takes a second for her to fully process what she's looking at. Chains. Maybe more than one, or maybe just one very big, very heavy link of it, and—handcuffs? 

“Hey, uh, I’m not seeing your keys!” Stiles calls to her from the kitchen.

Melissa hastily goes to zip the bag back up. But then she stops. Who would know what’s going on with Scott better than Stiles? He may have already said it’s nothing, but she knows that when presented with no easy escape route and the spotlight fully on him, Stiles will spill everything he knows to her. It’s maybe unfair to him, but… hell, she needs  _ something _ . She needs to know if there’s really nothing to worry about.

She straightens up as Stiles comes swinging back around the doorway from the living room. 

“Are they in your purse or—”

Stiles stops dead in front of her. He glances at her raised eyebrows and crossed arms, down to the open duffel bag of god knows what. And for a second, there’s a flicker of all-too-familiar guilt.

“Care to explain what the hell kind of school project needs chains and  _ handcuffs _ ?” she asks.

Stiles lifts his now doubled eyes back up to her, his mouth falling open. He doesn’t seem to know what to say to it either, as if he had no idea what was in the bag. But then he shakes his head, breathing out a nervous chuckle and a shrug.

“Stiles,” she warns before he can get a word of some transparent lie out. 

He wavers under her stare, then deflates with a groan. His eyes close briefly as he runs a hand over his face in seeming frustration. 

“Alright, it’s not a school project,” he admits, throwing his hands out. “It’s a—I don’t really know how to—It’s not for school, but I can’t tell you what it’s for, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay,” Melissa says firmly. “Why do you have handcuffs? Please, for the love of god, tell me you and Scott haven’t gotten yourselves into any kind of trouble? I don’t even know what it could be this time. Are you planning on kidnapping someone?”

“No, of course not!” Stiles almost sounds offended at the accusation.

“How else am I supposed to react, Stiles?! I never know with you two anymore! I keep getting calls about the two of you so often now that it could be anything at this point! Even your dad’s been calling, but not just as your concerned father, as the  _ sheriff _ . So, if you and Scott are up to anything illegal, dangerous, or—or just anything that could be putting you in trouble, then I need you to tell me right now, Stiles.”

“It’s not—” Stiles is getting increasingly more flustered, both speech-wise and visibly, his face tinting ever so slightly as he scrambles for an explanation. “It’s nothing like that! We’re not in any trouble, I promise, and this is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. It’s just—just something between me and Scott, but it’s nothing bad, and we are no way in any danger or trouble or anything, okay? I promise!”

Melissa continues to stare at him. Her eyes narrow slightly, trying to get a better judge on whether or not he’s just throwing out more false reassurances like before. But he seems more sincere this time, and has that familiar, anxious look of wanting to escape as quickly as possible. 

Sighing, she uncrosses her arms. “I just… I just worry, you know? About both of you. But if you say that everything’s okay...”

Stiles is nodding very keenly, partly to get the conversation to end sooner, she suspects. “I do, it is! We’re both good, everything is good, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.”

She gives him another analyzing glance over. But it’s obvious she’s not going to get anything else out of him. Maybe because there really is nothing to worry about. Maybe she really was just being too overprotective because of everything that’s happened. 

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll be going then. But you know that if you and Scott need anything, you can call, or text...“

Stiles just keeps nodding frantically. That’ll be that then.

She gives a small smile, then starts to walk around the bag and him, before he stops her.

“Wait, your keys...?”

Her eyes widen. “Oh! Uh, yeah, completely slipped my mind.” She reaches into her pockets once more and makes a face of surprise that probably isn’t even remotely convincing. “There they are. Wow, the exhaustion must really be getting to me.”

Stiles doesn’t say anything, his eyes twitching slightly at the very quickly found keys. But he smiles back and even waves her off as she leaves. It’s only on the drive to the hospital that she really processes the situation.

Chains, handcuffs, Scott and Stiles both being so secretive and jumpy. She’s really just hoping that a trip to the sheriff’s station isn’t next on the list of ways they’ve got themselves into trouble. 

It stays in the back of her mind even when she’s working. It can’t be anything too concerning, right? Sure, it doesn’t look great, but her joke about them kidnapping someone was just a _ joke _ . There’s no way that they would do anything so reckless and stupid.

But then what do they need the stuff for? And why could Stiles not tell her? If it’s not a school project, and it’s not anything worthy of a warrant, then  _ what _ ? And why is Scott being so distant with her? 

“He’s a sixteen-year-old boy,” David says, grinning when she confesses some of her worries to him on their break. “Of course he’s going to be distant and secretive. Most of them are. Hell, Liam’s barely ever home half the time.”

Melissa shakes her head, slumping back in the chair as David leans back against the desk. 

“I don’t know, it just—it feels like more than that,” she insists. “He won’t talk to me, and when he does, he has this look on his face, like—like he’s scared of something. But I don’t know what it is, I mean, he’s not doing too badly at school, so I doubt it’s his grades.”

David considers it. “It might seem like a bigger deal to him. Worried about disappointing you?”

“Liam’s still overworking himself then, I take it?”

“Oh yeah, big time. He seems to think that there’s something he needs to prove, to his mom, to me. I don’t know what exactly, but...“ David sighs, smiling, and shrugs. “Maybe that’s really all it is.”

“You think?” Melissa asks, dropping her head back against the chair. “So, it has nothing to do with the weird bag of chains and handcuffs?”

David makes a face. Melissa chuckles, nodding.

“Yeah, I don’t quite know how to react yet either. Earlier—before I left to come here—his, uh, his best friend came over with a bag, said it was for a school project, and then when I... well, when I looked in the bag, I found some chains and a pair of handcuffs.”

“Okay,” David says slowly. “That’s… I mean, it’s strange, but certainly not... what class is this for, again?”

“Ha, yeah. That’s the thing. His best friend then told me that he lied and it wasn’t anything to do with school. But he said he couldn’t tell me what it was actually for either? And I didn’t want to push, because he was getting really anxious and just nervous, so I—I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing, but I’m just waiting for the sheriff’s call telling me they’ve been arrested for kidnapping now.”

David laughs, but the thoughtful expression lingers in a crease in his forehead.

“Well, tonight’s surprisingly quiet for a full moon,” he jokes. “But, okay, wait. So, he’s being distant, secretive, you said he looks like he’s scared of something whenever you do talk? And his best friend is acting the same? Secretive, sort of scared and anxious?”

Melissa nods. He seems to be trying to connect the same unconnectable dots that she’s been working on for a while now. The bag is just one more probably irrelevant dot.

But David gives her a genuinely curious look, and says, “Have you considered the possibility that maybe there’s something going on? Between them, I mean?”

Melissa frowns. “Something between them? As in, maybe they’re dating ?”

David shrugs. “Not necessarily, but something along those lines. Maybe it’s just that Scott’s told his friend something, something he may be scared to tell you, and they’re both trying to keep it a secret. It’s just a thought.”

“I never even considered that that was what it could be,” Melissa admits.

“I just remember when Liam’s best friend came out to him, they both acted pretty much the same. Actually, they still are like that some of the time. Jenna and I have talked about it a couple times, dropped some hints to Liam that if there’s anything he wants to talk about, he can. But maybe it’s just something similar for Scott and his friend, or maybe it’s more. Either way, I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“Even so, that bag worries me,” Melissa says. “I mean,  _ handcuffs _ ? Even if the big secret is something like that, what does that have to do with chains and—and handcuffs?”

David raises his eyebrows, giving her another but different look. “I wouldn’t put too much thought into that one if I were you.”

It takes a second before Melissa realizes what he means. She groans, closing her eyes, and hides her face in her hands. 

“Oh god, no. Don’t even go there, I can’t. Officially erased from my mind. God, I wish I had never looked in the bag! Why did I do that?”

David chuckles as she peeks through her fingers at him. “Curiosity gets the best of all of us, especially as parents. But best leave that one alone.”

“Dr. Geyers!” A nurse calls, waving him over. 

He straightens up, moving around the desk and shooting Melissa a grin as he backs away. "I’m sure if they do kidnap someone, you’ll know about it soon enough! Otherwise, try not to worry!”

“Ha! Not helpful!” Melissa scoffs, but she grins back as he disappears with the nurse around the corner. Sighing, she slumps back into the chair, staring at the computer screen. 

Everything he said plays around in her mind. Is there a chance that he’s right? Could the big secret just be that Scott’s not straight? Or even that he and Stiles are together? She considers it properly, what it would mean, and especially the fact that if David is right, then that means Scott’s scared to tell her. 

“Huh,” she mutters. Her dwelling doesn’t last long as she’s called on by another doctor, but it stays in the back of her mind.

Scott is, fortunately, in his room when she comes home after her shift at five in the morning. He’s curled up in bed, sleeping soundlessly. No sign of Stiles or the bag in sight. Leaving his room without making a noise, she gets some sleep as well and decides that she can talk to him later.

* * *

  
  
  


It’s safe to say that Melissa’s a little nervous from the moment she wakes up. Approaching the subject without actually approaching it is going to be a tough enough task on its own, but with how hard it is to get Scott to even talk to her these days, it’s really going to be a challenge.

It isn’t until after school that Scott gets home. She’s already there, her extra shift not starting for another hour. It gives her more of a chance to properly talk to him. 

“Hey, Scott!” she calls up the stairs as he immediately flies up them. “Can I talk to you for a minute, sweetie?”

“Yeah, just two seconds, Mom,” he shouts back.

Well, that’s progress. Willing to talk and he doesn’t sound like he’d rather be doing literally anything else. She’ll take it.

She paces the living room slowly, thinking it all over. She has to be careful, not pushy, just gentle and letting him know that if there is something bothering him, he can talk to her. The last thing she wants is to push him further away than he’s already drifted.

When he finally returns, she’s mid-pace. He shoots her a curious, confused look.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” she says gently. “Maybe we should sit down.”

“Mom?” Scott says, concerned, but follows her to the couch all the same.

She sits beside him, turns towards him. He’s still just frowning, that concerned little crease between his eyebrows. Sort of the same look he had when she told him about the divorce, and whenever she takes an extra shift or three.

“It’s nothing bad!” she quickly assures him, placing a hand on top of his with a smile. “I just... wanted to talk. It’s been a while since we’ve done that. And I thought that there may be some things that... well, we could talk about. If you want to.”

There’s a badly-concealed panic in Scott’s eyes the more she talks. He doesn’t seem to know what to do, or if he should speak at all. There’s that scared look. Like she’s figuring it all out and he doesn’t want her to. 

“Like... like what?” Scott asks slowly. 

“Well,” Melissa thinks, once more reminding herself to approach carefully, “like... how’s work going? Do you like the animal clinic? And your boss?”

Scott’s head tilts and he gives her a look. “Mom. Small talk? Please, just tell me what it is.”

Melissa sighs. “I’m just—I’m worried about you. You don’t talk to me like you used to, so I have no idea what’s going on with you anymore, and you’ve been so distant and withdrawn.”

“I’ve just been... going through some stuff,” Scott says, shaking his head. “But it’s nothing bad. I promise. You don’t need to worry about me, Mom, I’ll be okay. I’m working on some stuff.”

She places her other hand on top of his as well now, clasping it beneath both of her own as she holds his gaze. 

“You know that I love you completely and unconditionally, right?” she tells him, and he nods. “Okay, good. I just—I wanted you to know that you could talk to me, about anything. No matter what it is, I’ll love you the same, and that will never change. I just want you to be happy.”

Scott looks a little confused again, but he nods. “I know, Mom. And, I will be. I am.”

“Okay, good,” she repeats. Then, she just can’t stop herself, the thought eating away at her. “But I also want you to be safe. In every way. So, if you were, you know, hypothetically, seeing someone, I would want you to feel comfortable talking to me if you need to—”

“Oh my god, Mom, no, stop.”

“It’s not the talk! I’m just saying!”

“Please, stop saying. Now.”

“I just want you to be careful,” she quickly says. “I know you’re smart, but when I saw Stiles with that bag yesterday, I just worried, and so I’m just saying—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Scott stops her, utterly bewildered now. “Stiles with the bag? What—what does that have to do with me being safe? I thought we were talking about—are we not having a safe sex talk right now?”

Melissa falters. “Well... yeah, we are. And I mean... oh, man.” She closes her eyes, sighing. “This wasn’t how this was meant to go.”

“Wait, what exactly is going on?”

She lifts her head, looking back up at him. “Maybe you should tell me that, because I think I may have misread this whole situation.”

Scott looks mildly concerned but more confused than anything. “In what way? What situation?”

The sheepishness is starting to set in now. Sure, she was mainly listening to what David had said, but she was so quick to believe that it was more than likely the truth, or that anything was actually wrong in the first place. But the Scott sitting in front of her right now seems perfectly fine. 

“You’ve just been so... distant lately,” she tries again to explain. “Like you’re trying to hide something from me, and then Stiles started acting the same way every time he saw me, and—I don’t know, I just... I thought  _ maybe _ there was something you weren’t too sure how to tell me. Or were scared to. Because of your dad?”

“Because of  _ dad _ ?” Scott stares at her, bewildered. 

She shrugs, her voice taking a softer note as she says, “You know. The way he acted with you and Stiles when you were kids. Always telling you not to hug like you did, and telling you off whenever you’d kiss each other whenever you were so happy you didn’t know how else to express it.”

In truth, it was one of the reasons she had been so quick to think that David might have been right. Rafael was never subtle about disliking how close Scott and Stiles were, and saying that they should make other friends, maybe some girls. He was the walking definition of toxic masculinity turned into homophobia. 

Scott seems to be catching on at last. His brow doesn’t unfurrow any though, his confusion actually seeming to increase. 

“I figured that, if you were starting to feel things... for a boy, not necessarily Stiles, but any boy in general, then maybe that’s why you were so distant and secretive and scared. Because everything with your dad made you scared to feel that way, and you weren’t sure you could tell me in case I reacted similarly? Am I even a little close or am I way off on this and have just completely put my foot in my mouth?”

“What? I—” Scott starts, but he cuts himself off, just blinking, wide-eyed now that he’s figured out just which conversation they’re actually having. “I don’t—how did you— _ what _ ?”

“That wasn’t a denial...”

Scott shakes his head, hair flopping around his face in an earnest attempt at backtracking. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean—I don’t—I’m not—why does everyone think I’m gay?!”

Melissa frowns. “Wait, so, is that what’s been bothering you? Have people been saying things at school, or...?”

“What? No! I meant Coach, but—I’m not being bullied, Mom,” he says, looking her in the eyes reassuringly. “I’m okay. I promise.”

She nods slowly. For the first time in a while, she actually believes him. He isn’t lying. So, school may not be the problem. Maybe there really isn’t one at all, but she can still see that mask on his face, hiding something behind the comfort he’s trying to give her.

Sighing, she smiles and squeezes his hand gently between her own. “Okay,” she says. “Good. I’m glad. That’s all I want, you know that, right? For you to be okay, and happy.”

Scott returns her smile. “I know, Mom.”

“And...” Melissa takes a deep breath and takes a chance, needing to get it out, “just know that, you don’t have to tell me anything, okay? I won’t pressure you to talk about it, as long as you’re really okay. If you’re not ready, then that’s okay, too. I love you. Nothing will change that.”

“Mom, I’m not—” Scott pauses. His mouth is open as if to continue, but he seems to be reconsidering the rest of his sentence. He smiles and squeezes her hands back. “I know, Mom. I love you. I’m just... still figuring things out.”

She nods again, a weight lifting at his willingness to talk with her now as opposed to shutting her down like he’s been doing for almost a week.

“And that’s okay,” she says. “Take things at your own pace. And that goes for everything. Even if, maybe, someone that you like’s pace is a little different to your own. Say, a little bit impulsive...“

Scott rolls his eyes and says, “Mom, Stiles and I aren’t—we’re not a thing if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s just a big misunderstanding."

"Okay, but the bag—?" she asks. "The chains, the handcuffs?"

Scott shakes his head. "Mom, seriously, it was nothing like... whatever you're thinking. It was just a project Stiles and I were working on, but not for a school, but it has absolutely nothing to do with this. Neither does Stiles, t his... some of it, doesn’t have anything to do with Stiles. We’re not together, we’re not... anything.”

Melissa takes that in. She's far more reassured about the bag, even if she does still have questions about what kind of project could possibly require those things. But she doesn't push it; it's not the part bothering her right now. She wasn’t absolutely positive about Stiles’ involvement—or any of it, really. But she is now. 

“But that’s not what you want,” she says softly, knowingly. “Is it? There’s something more?”

She wasn’t sure before, not entirely, but Scott’s expression confirms it all, from the moments of wondering when they were kids to the most recent theorizing. 

Scott looks down, hair falling in front of his face. He shakes his head slowly as he takes a deep breath.

“I guess you might have been right, with everything about dad, and me being scared,” Scott quietly tells her. “I think I’ve known for about a year. Mainly because I wanted more with Stiles. But I shouldn’t—and it doesn’t matter what I want anyway, because I don’t think Stiles even wants to be friends with me anymore.”

Frowning, Melissa asks, “What happened?”

He gives another shake of his head as he looks back up at her with a wry smile. “I did something that... really hurt him. Which, even if he was still talking to me, would be reason enough for why nothing can ever happen. He’s too in love with Lydia, and I... I just need to figure out how to get him to talk to me again.”

“Well, all you can do is try and make things right,” Melissa says. “But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to try talking to him about the other things bothering you as well. Does he know about any of it?”

“No. I wouldn’t know how to tell him.”

“Just start simple.” She shrugs. “But you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’m here for you no matter what.”

Scott smiles and leans into the hug she offers. She breathes out a sigh of relief. Just knowing that he’s at least okay for the most part is comforting. If he wants to talk, he will, she’s sure of it now more so than ever. He just needs a little space to figure it out for himself.

When he pulls back, he says, “I’m gonna go do homework. And maybe call Stiles.”

“Okay.” 

Melissa lets him go, watching him get up and leave the living room to head back upstairs. She smiles to herself. Then her phone goes off and she groans, slumping back into the couch. 

When she knocks on Scott’s door and slips inside at his answer, she smiles at seeing his laptop open and Stiles waving back at her from the screen. 

“I’m heading into work, sweetie,” she tells him. “I’ll be back around midnight, okay? There’s food in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

Scott nods, smiling back. “Thanks. Love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too!” Stiles calls, voice crackling slightly over the bad connection. 

Melissa grins, says, “I love you both”, then leaves the room. She pauses momentarily outside the closed door. There’s some muffled talking, but she catches Scott asking Stiles if he wants to come over. A moment later and there’s laughter from inside the room. 

Smiling to herself, Melissa leaves them to it and heads to work, happy enough with the knowledge that things are okay for the most part. 


End file.
